A raft of pubs, bars and taprooms across the UK will be pouring pints at Germany’s lower tax rates this Friday (9 October) as part of an initiative to highlight the potential benefits of a lower tax on pub beer ahead of the Budget later this month.

The Drop the Pint Day will see 65 venues cut their prices on one cask or keg of beer to German tax levels on Friday.

The UK has one of the highest rates of tax on pub pints in Europe which is ten times as high as in Germany. The headline duty rate in Germany is 5 pence for a pint of beer compared to 55 pence in the UK.

The the Drop the Tap Tax campaign, launched by SIBA, asks beer drinkers to sign the petition and write to their MP ahead of the Budget on Wednesday 28 October when the Chancellor will make a decision on alcohol tax levels for next year.

The campaign petition can be found at www.droptaptax.com and publicans, brewers and hospitality venues can download posters and share the petition on social media using the hashtag #DropTapTax

They said: “The Chancellor has the power to cut tax specifically on beer that is sold in pubs via the hand pulls and keg taps. The so called Draught Relief is currently set at a 13.9% reduced rate. Independent brewers believe that boosting this could create jobs, help grow the economy and give a boost to pubs and breweries across the UK.”